by Travis Paull

by Travis Paull

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Can you get satisfaction with pride?


Haman definitely had an issue with pride. He boasted to his wife of his great wealth, how many sons he had, the king had just granted and funded his request to annihilate Mordecai and the Jews, and he believed that Esther was honoring him with a banquet. The core belief of pride is “You exist to serve and give to me.” Could the opposite, humility, mean “I exist to serve and help others.” Esther was willing to give her own life to save her people. She submitted to the king’s eunuch and found favor with him. He helped her become queen. Her humility won the respect of the king. When she appeared to him in the courts, he was willing to give her up to half of the kingdom. On the other hand, Haman’s pride led to his destruction. In Chapter 5:13 he says “But all this (the things he boasts about) gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.” He prepared to hang Mordecai because Mordecai would not fear nor worship him. Pride always leads to destruction. Haman ended up honoring Mordecai and hanging from the gallows that he built.

The Psalm for today sums it up well. Psalm 37:1-2 . . . concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God (Me: he has pride) before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself (Boasts) too much to detect or hate his sin. Verse 4: “Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.” What do you see in your life? Is there any area that you were not able to detect, but that was exposed today?

My prayer today is that God will open my eyes to fear him. Show me the areas I am sinning and teach me to hate it. Help me to have a heart like Esther. Help me to give and improve the lives of others.

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